Hose connector or coupling for suction cleaner



Sept. 22, 1964 c. B. SMITHSQN HOSE CONNECTOR 0R COUPLING FOR SUCTION CLEANER 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Nov. l, 1960 sBPL 22, 1954 .c. B, sMrrHsN 3,149,362

HOSE CONNECTOR OR COUPLING FOR SUCTION CLEANER Filed NOV. l, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent O 3,149,362 HOSE CQNNECTGR R CUPLING FOR SUCTlN CLEANER Charles B. Smithson, Bloomington, Ill., assigner to National Union Electric Corporation, Stamford, Conn., a

corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 66,465 3 Claims. (Cl. 15-327) This invention relates to improvements in suction cleaners and more particularly to a novel and improved connector or coupling for detachably connecting a cleaning tool hose to a suction cleaner.

In a suction cleaner of the canister type having a casing with an enclosed lter bag and a cleaning tool hose, openings are commonly provided in the wall of the casing for admitting dirty air from the hose and discharging clean or filtered air. It is quite important in a cleaner of this type to provide a simple, fast-acting, and inexpensive means for detachably connecting the cleaning tool hose to either the air inlet or outlet so that the hose may be disassembled from the casing when the cleaner is not in use and so that the hose can be connected to either the inlet or outlet as desired.

A further object of lthe invention is to provide a novel and improved coupling means for detachably connecting a cleaning tool hose to either the dirty air inlet or the filtered air outlet of a suction cleaner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel combined hinge unit and air inlet hose connection in a suction cleaner having hinged casing sections.

An additional object of the invention is to provide novel quick-connecting coupling means for the cleaning tool hose of a suction cleaner.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the subsequent detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a small scale perspective view of a suction cleaner having a hose coupling comprising one specific embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional View taken substantially along the line 2-2 oi FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an inside elevational view with a portion in section as seen substantially along the line 3 3 of FiG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view partly in section and partly in elevation showing the hose coupling in the process of being connected to the cleaner inlet;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the coupling in fully connected relation;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the coupling in the process of being disconnected;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a small scale fragmentary perspective view showing the coupling connected to the cleaner outlet;

FG. 9 is an enlarged sectional View taken substantially along the line 9-9 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. l() is a sectional view taken along the line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

Referring iirst to FIGS. 1 and 8, the invention is illustrated in connection with a suction cleaner comprising a lower casing section 11 mounted on wheels 12 and an upper casing section or cover 13 having a handle 14. The casing sections 11 and 13 are hingedly connected by a hinge structure designated generally at 16 and described below in more detail. The hinge structure 16 includes an inlet 17 for dirty air communicating with the cover 13, and a cleaning tool hose 18 is detachably connectible in the inlet 17 by means of a connector or coupling 19 mounted on the end of the hose 18.

In FIG. 8, the lower casing section 11 is seen with the 3,149,362 Patented Sept. 22, 1964 ICC cover open to show a depressed tray 21 extending across the lower casing section for supporting a centrally located motor-fan unit 22. A lateral outlet 23 is provided in the side wall 24 of the lower casing section for discharging clean or filtered air, the outlet 23 being located diametrically opposite the hinge structure 16. As seen in FIG. 8, the coupling 19 may also be connected to the outlet 23 when it is desired to use the cleaner as a blower for spraying, etc. A suitable latch (not shown) is also mounted on the cover 13 for releasably locking the hinged casing sections together.

As shown fragmentarily in FIG. 2, a lilter bag 26 of air pervious paper or the like is mounted within the cover 13, preferably encircling the motor-fan unit 22, by means of a bag support 27 which detachably secures the mouth of the bag in registry with the air inlet 17. The details or the bag mounting arrangement form no part of the present invention but are fully described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 66,543 tiled November 1, 1960.

Referring next to FIGS. 2-7, the hinge structure 16 includes a hinge member 3i) having an outer wall 31 spaced from the outside of the side wall, designated at 32, of the cover 13. The hinge member 30 may conveniently be formed from a plastic material and is provided with an inwardly extending peripheral iiange 34 engaging the wall 32 and a central tubular projection 36 which deiines the air inlet 17. The hinge member 3i) is secured to the cover 13 by means of screws 33 extending through the wall 32 into bosses 35 on the member 3d. At the inside of the hinge member 30 a pair of upper and lower arcuate extensions or guide portions 4i) project inwardly from the opening 17 and iit telescopically over a tubular projection 37 (FIG. 2) extending outwardly from the cover wall 32 so as to dene a tubular socket for receiving the hose coupling 19. The outer wall 31 of the hinge member 31) is also spaced outwardly from the outer axial end of the tubular projection 37. The cover 13 has a laterally extending peripheral flange 3S (FIG. 2) which is fitted with a furniture guard 39 of rubber or other protective material. The tray 21 on the lower casing section 11 provides a mating llange 41 with a portion 42 of the furniture guard 39 extending between the flanges 3S and 41 as a gasket to prevent leakage of air when the cover is closed. The hinge member 3@ has an integral, depending outwardly curved lower end portion 43 which extends over the iianges 38-41 and the guard 39 and is pivotally connected by a hinge pin 44 to a pair of upright arms 46 on a hinge bracket secured to the wall 24 of the lower casing section 11.

The hose coupling 19 comprises an outer tubular coupling member 51, which is also conveniently made from plastic, and an elongated inner sleeve 52 (FIG. 6), which is preferably of metal, for attaching the coupling member 51 'to the hose 18. One portion of the sleeve 52 extends into the open end of the hose 18 and is securely fastened thereon by means of an outer ferrule 53, the hose 1S being concentrically clamped between the sleeve 52 and the ferrule 53 with a portion of the hose wall being compressed into an annular groove 54 in the sleeve 52. The inner end of The coupling member 51 is secured on the sleeve 52 by means of a split resilient spring ring 56 litting loosely in an annular groove 57 on the sleeve 52 and in an opposed annular groove 58 in the inner surface of the coupling member 51. The coupling member 51 is thus retained against axial movement but is freely rotatable relative to the sleeve 52. As will be evident from FIG. 6, the sleeve 52 with the grooves 54 and 57 is symmetrically constructed so that during assembly of the hose 18 and coupling 19 either end of the sleeve 52 may be inserted in the hose 13 and secured thereon by the ferrule :sn-.tassa 53. When the coupling member 51 is forced axially onto the other end of the sleeve 52, the split ring 56 contained in the groove 53 expands circumferentially in the groove S and then snaps into place in the groove 57 for permanently and rotatably mounting the coupling member 51 on the sleeve 52.

The free end of the coupling member is tapered, as at 6l, for the purpose described below, and the opposite end is provided with circumferentially spaced ribs 62 for gripping and manipulating the coupling. Raised indicia in the form of arrowheads 63 (FIG. 4) or the like are formed on the outer surface of the coupling member 51 for indicating the direction of movement for connecting the coupling to the air inlet 17, and an annular projecting rib 64 is also provided on the coupling member for limiting the extent of inward movement thereof. A pair of detents in the form of short diametrically spaced depressions or straight grooves 66 are indented in the outer surface of the coupling member 51 adjacent the tapered end 61 thereof for receiving the inwardly biased legs 67 of a U-shaped resilient spring 68 when the coupling member is in one of its rotary positions (FIGS. 3 and 5). The loosely disposed spring 68 has a bight portion 69 which overlies and is supported on the upper arcuate extension 4i) (FIGS. 2 and 3), and the spring legs 67 depend along opposite ends of the arcuate extensions 40 which are aligned with the grooves 66 in the FIG. 3 position of the coupling. The distance between the spring legs 67 is slightly less than the diameter of the tubular projection 37 so that the spring legs 67 are loosely retained between the outer wall 31 of the hinge member 30 and the axial end of the tubular projection 37. Thus, the hinge member 30 also provides a housing for the spring 68.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-7, the operation of the coupling will be described. In FIG. 4 the coupling member 51 has been rotated so that its straight grooves 66 are aligned with the spring legs 67, and the coupling member is shown in the process of being forced axially to the right so that the tapered end 61 of the coupling member is inserted in the inlet opening 17 and between the inwardly biased spring legs 67. Continued axial movement of the coupling member 51 causes the spring legs 67 to be spread apart slightly by the cam action of the taper 61, and when the coupling member 51 reaches its innermost position, as seen in FIG. 5, the spring legs 67 snap into the grooves 66 thereby securely holding the coupling in connected relation in the inlet 17. The rib 64 abuts the outer end of the tubular portion 36 to limit the extent of inward movement of the coupling member 51. Moreover, the spring legs 67 abut the axial end of the tubular projection 37 for retaining the spring 68 during axial insertion of the coupling member 51, It will be understood that when the coupling member 51 is in its FIG. 5 connected position, the hose 18 and its attached sleeve 52 are rotatable relative to the coupling member 51 so as to facilitate manipulation of the hose 18 and a cleaning tool mounted thereon.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the coupling member 51 is in connected position, the inner tapered end 61 extends through the tubular projection 37 into a central opening in a resilient gasket 71 of sponge rubber or the like which is mounted on the bag support 27 as more fully explained in my aforementioned copending application Serial No. 66,543.

In FIGS. 6 and 7 the method of detaching the coupling is illustrated. To quickly disconnect the hose from the cleaner, the operator grasps the coupling member 51 at the ribbed portion 62 thereof and rotates the coupling member 51 approximately 90 in either direction. As best seen in FIG. 7, such rotary movement disengages the spring legs 67 from the grooves 66 and the curved periphery of the coupling member 51 between the grooves 66 cams the spring legs 67 to resilient spread-apart relation. This camming action causes the spring 68 to rise upwardly thereby relieving spring tension, but upward movement of the spring is limited by engagement of the bight portion 69 with the uppermost boss 35 (FIG. 7) thereby retaining the spring in operative relation. With the spring legs 67 thus disengaged from the grooves 66, the coupling member 51 may then be removed by axial withdrawal to the left as viewed in FIG. 6, and thereafter the spring legs 67 retract and the spring drops by gravity to its previous position with the bight portion 69 supported on the upper arcuate extension 40 (FIGS. 2 and 3).

In FIGS. 8-10, the attachment of the coupling 19 to the air outlet 23 is shown. At the outlet 23 in the side wall 24 of the lower casing section 11, an inwardly extending tubular projection 72 is provided having a pair of diametrically located straight slots or cut-outs 73 with laterally projecting flanges 74. A resilient U-shaped spring 76, similar to the spring 68, is disposed over the tubular projection 72 with its legs 77 extending through the slots 73 and retained between the anges 74 and the wall 24. The bight portion 78 of the spring 76 is retained veitically between the tubular projection 72 and the bottom, designated at 79 in FIG. l0, of the depressed tray 21. A perforated guard 81 is secured to the inside of the Wall 24 overlying the air outlet.

As will be evident from FIGS. 9 and 10, the coupling member 51 is connected to the air outlet 23 in the same manner described above, namely, by axial insertion with the coupling member oriented so that the grooves 66 are aligned with the spring legs 77. During such insertion the spring legs 77 are spread apart slightly and then snap into the grooves 66. Upon rotation of the coupling member 51 about 90, the spring legs 77 are cammed apart to permit axial withdrawal of the coupling. During both insertion and withdrawal of the coupling member 51, the spring legs 77 are retained by the flanges 74.

Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various modications and equivalents may be utilized without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner having a casing with an air passage, the combination of a tubular projection extending outwardly from said casing around said passage, a spring housing secured to the outside of said casing and having an outer wall portion spaced from said casing and from the outer axial end of said tubular projection, said wall portion having an opening therethrough aligned with said passage and having a pair of upper and lower arcuate extensions projecting inwardly from said opening and telescopically engaging said tubular projection, an inverted `U-shaped resilient spring member disposed within said housing and having a bight portion and a pair of leg portions spaced apart a distance slightly less than the diameter of said tubular projection, said upper arcuate extension comprising support means having said bight portion of said spring member supported thereon with said leg portions depending adjacent opposite sides of said passage and said aligned opening and along opposite ends of said extensions, said leg portions being loosely retained between said Wall portion and said outer axial end of said tubular projection, a tubular hose coupling axially insertable at one end thereof through said opening and said passage, said coupling having a pair of diametrically spaced grooves in its outer surface adjacent said one end thereof for receiving said leg portions of said spring member in one rotary position of the coupling whereby to releasably retain said coupling in said opening and said passage, and cam means on said coupling intermediate said grooves for resiliently spreading and disengaging said leg portions from said grooves in response to rotation of said coupling to another rotary position thereof whereby to permit axial withdrawal of said coupling from said opening and said passage, said housing providing space above said bight portion of said spring member for permitting limited bodily movement of said spring member upwardly from said coupling during rotation thereof from said one position to said other position whereby to relieve spring tension and facilitate disengagement of said coupling, and said spring member thereafter dropping downwardly by gravity onto said upper arcuate extension.

2. The combination of claim 1 further characterized in that said housing has an upper abutment portion spaced above said upper arcuate extension for limiting upwardly bodily movement of said spring member.

3. In a suction cleaner having upper and lower casing sections and an air passage through said upper casing section, the combination of a spring housing secured to the outside of said upper casing section and having an outer wall portion spaced from said upper casing section, said wall portion having an opening therethrough aligned with said passage, an integral hinge portion depending rom said housing and having a pivotal connection with a cooperating hinge portion on said lower casing section, an inverted U-shaped resilient spring member disposed within said housing and having a bight portion and a pair of leg portions, support means loosely supporting said spring member with its leg portions depending adjacent opposite sides of said passage and said aligned opening, a tubular hose coupling axially insertable at one end thereof through said opening and said passage, said coupling having a pair of diametrically spaced grooves in its outer surface adjacent said one end thereof for receiving said leg portions of said spring member in one rotary position of the coupling whereby to releasably retain said coupling in said opening and said passage, and cam means on said coupling intermediate said grooves for resiliently spreading and disengaging said leg portions from said grooves in response to rotation of said coupling to another rotary position thereof whereby to permit axial withdrawal of said coupling from said opening and said passage, said housing providing space above said bight portion of said spring member for permitting limited bodily movement of said spring member upwardly from said coupling during rotation thereof from said one position to said other position whereby to relieve spring tension and facilitate disengagement of said coupling, and said spring member thereafter dropping downwardly by gravity onto said support means.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,117,856 Kent Nov. 17, 1914 2,021,241 Mall Nov. 19, 1935 2,248,269 Bilde July 8, 1941 2,253,018 Cowles Aug. 19, 1941 2,360,485 Foster et al Oct. 17, 1944 2,487,470 Osborn Nov. 8, 1949 2,665,148 Humphrey Jan. 5, 1954 2,734,215 Wilson Feb. 14, 1956 2,757,942 Eberhart Aug. 7, 1956 2,778,447 Meyerhoefer Ian. 22, 1957 2,818,596 Martinec Ian. 7, 1958 2,912,261 Meyerhoefer Nov. 10, 1959 2,958,893 Carlberg et al Nov. 8, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 481,894 Canada Mar. 25, 1952 732,186 Great Britain June 22, 1955 1,231,735 France Apr. 19, 1960 

3. IN A SUCTION CLEANER HAVING UPPER AND LOWER CASING SECTIONS AND AN AIR PASSAGE THROUGH SAID UPPER CASING SECTION, THE COMBINATION OF A SPRING HOUSING SECURED TO THE OUTSIDE OF SAID UPPER CASING SECTION AND HAVING AN OUTER WALL PORTION SPACED FROM SAID UPPER CASING SECTION, SAID WALL PORTION HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH ALIGNED WITH SAID PASSAGE, AN INTEGRAL HINGE PORTION DEPENDING FROM SAID HOUSING AND HAVING A PIVOTAL CONNECTION WITH A COOPERATING HINGE PORTION ON SAID LOWER CASING SECTION, AN INVERTED U-SHAPED RESILIENT SPRING MEMBER DISPOSED WITHIN SAID HOUSING AND HAVING A BIGHT PORTION AND A PAIR OF LEG PORTIONS, SUPPORT MEANS LOOSELY SUPPORTING SAID SPRING MEMBER WITH ITS LEG PORTIONS DEPENDING ADJACENT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID PASSAGE AND SAID ALIGNED OPENING, A TUBULAR HOSE COUPLING AXIALLY INSERTABLE AT ONE END THEREOF THROUGH SAID OPENING AND SAID PASSAGE, SAID COUPLING HAVING A PAIR OF DIAMETRICALLY SPACED GROOVES IN ITS OUTER SURFACE ADJACENT SAID ONE END THEREOF FOR RECEIVING SAID LEG PORTIONS OF SAID SPRING MEMBER IN ONE ROTARY POSITION OF THE COUPLING WHEREBY TO RELEASABLY RETAIN SAID COUPLING IN SAID OPENING AND SAID PASSAGE, AND CAM MEANS ON SAID COUPLING INTERMEDIATE SAID GROOVES FOR RESILIENTLY SPREADING AND DISENGAGING SAID LEG PORTIONS FROM SAID GROOVES IN RESPONSE TO ROTA- 